People of Faith Must Speak Out on Danger of Climate Change

Most weekends,
I am able to escape the hustle and bustle of Kansas City and retreat to our
place in the country.

As I now sit on
the deck, overlooking green trees and sparkling water, I hear the morning
birdsong and breathe in the fresh morning air. The breeze caresses my skin, a
gentle reminder of the Spirit, the breath of God.

I breathe in
air with oxygen released by the trees and breathe out carbon dioxide that the
trees again take in. Beside the still waters, my soul is restored. And all is
well.

But all is not
well. All is not well with the air and the earth, of which I am a part and
which sustains my life. And in their silence, they call on me to speak.

In a familiar passage
in Ecclesiastes, we read “for everything there is a season, and a time for every
matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Among those seasons are “a time to
keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7).

It is often
easier to keep silence. I’m sure the prophets of old thought so too.

In their
political environments, to speak out against faithlessness toward God and
injustice that oppressed people was to invite the wrath of those in power.

But there came
a time when each prophet could no longer keep silent. The threat of destruction
was too great.

Drastic change
of heart and decisive action were needed immediately and urgently. And so, they
raised their voices in warning, painting pictures of devastation and ruin.

Like Isaiah,
Jeremiah and Micah before him, Jesus also spoke out. He portrayed the
destruction that awaited his country if they did not heed him, weeping tears of
grief at all who would be lost.

In our day,
there has been a tacit agreement among many to keep silent about climate
change, either because the subject raises anxiety or because the issue has
become caught up in our polarized politics.

Staying silent
helps to avoid conflict and keeps people from getting upset. Staying silent is
more comfortable because we don’t have to think as much about this existential
threat.

But when there
is urgent danger and when something can be done, one needs to speak up. And so
it is time, as people of faith, to talk about the climate crisis.

I recently
spent three days with former Vice President Al Gore, along with 1,200 other
participants from across our nation and world, receiving training for the
Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

The highlight
of the conference was Gore’s 2½-hour presentation. Carefully, he went through
the scientific studies that connect increased greenhouse gases in our
atmosphere to global warming.

Then, he
delineated the increasing impacts we are already experiencing in more intense
storms, rain bombs, flooding, drought, heat waves, wildfires, melting glaciers,
higher sea levels and so much more.

Already knowing
much of this, I still felt overwhelmed and then numbed as I heard it all
together. It was utterly convincing.

I felt again
the deep grief at what we are losing. We have not done well in fulfilling that
initial mandate God gave to humanity at the beginning of Genesis – to tend and
care for the earth.

But Gore also
held out hope, showing the increasing use and decreasing cost of solar and wind
energy, as well as the expanding number of cities, companies, states and
countries committed to transitioning to 100% renewable energy.

He encouraged
us with the image of our efforts toward a sustainable future being like a train
straining to get up to the top of a hill and coming nearer to the top. Once it
makes it over and starts heading down the hill, it will pick up speed.

So can be the
transition to a clean and sustainable future that we so desperately need. And
there are many things we each can do, and need to do, to make this happen.

The prophets
not only forecast doom and destruction. They also cast a vision of what the
future can be when lived within the reign of God.

They spoke of a
radical transition from a war economy to a peace economy, when swords are beaten
into plowshares.

They spoke of a
flourishing earth where there is enough for each, and animals and people live
in harmony with each other.

We need such
prophetic imagination today, for life beyond the current climate crisis – when
we have made the transition to a clean energy economy and a new way of living
in harmony with the earth – can be good.

It can be
healthier, more beautiful and more filled with the warmth of community than we
ever imagined.

Editor’s note: A version
of this article first appeared on the Central Baptist Theological Seminary president’s
blog. It is used with permission.